The Sly Raccoon's Cunning Abdication
Even though it was the Creator God's message regarding the Goddess Department War, the Dimensional and War God simply sipped his tea. An enraged shout immediately rang out.
“Show some respect, Intermediate Main God of Dimensions and War! You stand before the upper gods of the Main Divine Realm.”
“I have no respect to show those weaker than myself. Such is only natural in his universe.”
“What—!”
“If you defeat me, I will show you all the respect you desire. However, when you challenge me, stake all your divine power and your very existence. If you are unwilling to do so, stop the nonsense and simply deliver the notice. It is arrogant for a mere errand runner to act this way.”
“No matter that you are an Absolute Being with a title, such rudeness toward a superior cannot be forgiven.”
“In his universe, the power to enforce one's own will is truth, and the strong are the superiors. How long do you intend to arrogantly flaunt your position before someone stronger than you and commit such rudeness? Do you believe such overreach will be tolerated? Are you prepared to stake your own divine realm and everything you possess?”
Such a light war of words had escalated to the point of openly staking the divine realm itself for a fight. Yet that was impossible. Above all, they judged the Dimensional and War God to be stronger than themselves.
“Gulp—! Hoo—! Do not get angry, Dimensional and War God. It was merely an attempt to make the work easier.”
“The divine realm’s situation is a complete mess, so my mood is extremely foul. Deliver the message quickly—! Otherwise I will designate your divine realm as my own and apply for an authentication battle. Have you forgotten that preliminary main gods possess the right to designate any divine realm or planet they desire?”
“Ah… understood. I have no idea what this looks like from the middle. It is so filthy that I am seriously considering returning to my days as a mercenary god.”
The gods seated at the round table were all stunned by the Upper Main God’s behavior. The same Upper Main God who had appeared on screen with majestic dignity as the Creator’s messenger during the Substitute Gods’ authentication battle was now cringing pathetically before the Dimensional and War God. His extremely submissive attitude was nothing like the way one would look at a main god ranked beneath him.
The voice of the Dimensional and War God once again seized control of them and began directing their actions.
“Sit down. It is time to witness the results of the Goddess Department and all of you acting in unison.”
A bitter yet sorrowful voice echoed. Moved by it, they unconsciously took their seats.
Once every seat at the round table was filled, the Upper Main God began to speak while examining a long document.
For the intensive training of the Preliminary Creator God of the most exalted Main God, all current management of the divine realm is hereby delegated to the Dimensional and War God and the eight Goddess Lords until training is complete. The divine power and support of the Main God of the Divine Realm shall be maintained, yet operational and managerial responsibility shall rest with these nine individuals.
The details shall follow standard succession procedures of a general main divine realm, save that all rights are excluded. Furthermore, contracts with the Main God’s subordinate gods shall be terminated; repay the granted divine power immediately. From this moment, the duties of the Main God of the Divine Realm are delegated in full.
The Goddess Lords and the God of Knowledge felt as if they had been struck in the back of the head. Though the words were indirect, the meaning was singular.
“That sly raccoon Main God bastard! He abandons the divine realm yet insists on keeping the divine power and support!”
“This is madness—! How can the Main God of the Divine Realm simply abandon his own realm?”
When the Goddess Lord’s roar erupted, the Upper Main God who had come as messenger responded with a chilling voice. Still irritated by the dressing-down he had received from the Dimensional and War God earlier, he seized the chance to vent and let his voice thunder.
“Do the Goddess Lords wish to be sent back to the Spirit Realm once more? Outside the divine realm you possess neither voice nor authority. Until you elevate this realm to the absolute highest grade or restore the complete divine power of a true Main God, you are not Main Gods. If you wish to refute my words, come at me—! I shall teach you why I am an Upper Main God.”
The Goddess Lords’ expressions darkened sharply. They could not defeat an Upper Main God with their own strength alone. Moreover, they must never exercise Main God-level divine power outside the divine realm. In the end, there was nothing they could do in this absurd situation where the Main God of the Divine Realm was abandoning the realm while only claiming its rights.
As the Upper Main God prepared to hurl another venomous remark at their gloomy faces, a cold voice rang in his ear.
“Shut your mouth and continue reading. You are beginning to irritate me.”
The Upper Main God, who understood all too well how terrifying a titled Absolute Being could become once they reached a certain level, swiftly regained his composure.
“Ah—! U-understood. This is a decision made by the Main Divine Realm in accordance with the Creator God’s will. There is no right of refusal. The details match standard succession procedures for a general main divine realm, save that rights are excluded. Furthermore, the subordinate gods of the Main God shall have their contracts terminated, so repay the granted divine power at once. From this moment, the duties of the Main God of the Divine Realm are delegated immediately.”
Wiiiiiiing—!
As the duties of the Main God of the Divine Realm were stripped away and the position fell vacant, the divine realm itself began to vibrate. The Main God of the Divine Realm was the core of the realm and, in essence, the realm itself. A vacant Main God position led directly to the realm’s destruction. What was more, although the obligation to maintain the realm had vanished, the divine power and support being taken remained unchanged. The realm shook as though it would collapse at any second.
“This cannot be! The Main God of the Divine Realm would never do this!”
The God of Knowledge frantically began reading the delegation contract for the Main God’s duties that had appeared above the round table. The absurd clause about taking only the rights of the divine realm had not even registered in his mind. The only clause that stood out was the immediate recovery of all divine power granted to subordinate gods. This was literally a superior god abandoning his own subordinates.
Even the primordial war gods, who had been radiating murderous intent, collapsed into their seats.
Thud—!
It was written clearly. As soon as the delegated Main God was confirmed, twice the divine power they had received would be forcibly recovered. Each primordial war god had received 100 million divine power from the Main God of the Divine Realm upon becoming his subordinate. Forcible recovery of 200 million would drop them from the highest rank of gods to the highest tier of intermediate gods.
‘Forced recovery means restoration will be extremely difficult.’
‘Eons of loyalty repaid with betrayal.’
Despair dragged them all into an endless abyss.
The Goddess Lords’ expressions were equally bleak.
‘If a staggering 15 billion divine power continues flowing to the Main God of the Divine Realm who abandoned the realm, the future of this divine realm is far too dark.’
‘Setting aside the weakened authority of Main Gods who receive no divine power support from the realm, those who bear only the duties will see their authority drastically diminished.’
The fate awaiting a divine realm with weak Main Gods was obvious. Destruction.
‘The realm we raised to the highest upper divine realm through eons of extreme tension and desperate effort is going to perish.’
‘We will all be sent back to the Spirit Realm waiting area.’
An extremely unfair delegation contract was being forcibly executed by the will of the Creator God and the decision of the Main Divine Realm. Yet the punished goddesses had no power to stop it.
All the gods of the divine realm stared at the screen floating in the sky, on the verge of falling into despair.
The Dimensional and War God picked up the Main God’s duty delegation contract that had slipped from the God of Knowledge’s hand, glanced over it, and gave a short laugh.
“Pfft! As expected of the swindler Main God of the Divine Realm. A contract that reaps only profit without bearing a single risk. The Main Divine Realm approved this? And if refused, it would be executed by force?”
“Do not be angry. We truly did not realize the realm had reached the brink of collapse. Still, since it is an upper main divine realm, we believed that assigning only the duties would provide sufficient compensation. In that case, we intend to provide additional compensation later. There is no way we would neglect an Intermediate Main God of Dimensions and War capable of facing a highest-tier Upper Main God of the Substitute Gods on equal or superior terms.”
Sweat streamed down the Upper Main God’s face from sheer tension. The same was true for the Upper Main Gods behind him who handled the Main Divine Realm’s practical affairs.
‘This monstrous Intermediate Main God is a titled Absolute Being who possesses the highest authority of dimensions. He achieved superiority in one-on-one combat against a Substitute God Main God of equal or higher rank—something no one else has done.’
‘This is no time to worry about an Upper Main God who has earned the qualifications of a preliminary creator god.’
‘He is a powerhouse who could become a Creator God at any moment. If we offend him, he may ascend in another galaxy and return for revenge.’
Even now, if they made one wrong move and the Dimensional and War God harbored a grudge, he might target their divine realms. In the worst case, they could lose their realms and be reduced to mercenary gods. Moreover, he was openly threatening them with exactly that.
They understood why he was acting this way.
‘From the situation, it appears the Goddess Lords staged a rebellion and dozens of the highest war gods have already been killed.’
‘He has been forcibly saddled with a divine realm in a worse state than a complete mess where every highest god opposed one another in revolt. He has every right to be furious.’
‘This is no situation to serve as proxy for the Main God of the Divine Realm.’
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
In a situation with no room to breathe, the divine realm that had lost its core—the Main God of the Divine Realm—roared as though it would collapse at any second.
And at the claim that he could face a Substitute God Main God of equal or higher rank one-on-one, the eyes of the God of Knowledge, the primordial war gods, and the Goddess Lords widened to their limits.
Even with minimal knowledge, facing a Substitute God Main God of the same rank required at least ten Main Gods of equal standing. Though they did not know it, with the Substitute Gods now strengthened, common sense dictated that fifteen or more were needed.
Yet here stood a monster who surpassed even fifteen such gods.
Riiiiip—! Riiip—!
“Hmph—! How amusing. Do you still think I am a mercenary god?”
The contract sent by the most exalted Main God of the Divine Realm was torn to shreds in the Dimensional and War God’s hands, scattered into the air, and returned to the Main Divine Realm.
His perfectly natural and confident rejection of both the Creator God of this galaxy’s will and the Main Divine Realm’s decision caused the expressions of the other gods at the round table to freeze solid.
‘Even if this were called rebellion against the Creator God, no one could argue.’
Yet dark emotion flickered in the eyes of the Upper Main God, whose face seemed to say as expected.
‘The Creator God did not mention such detailed matters… He only said to accommodate the preliminary creator god’s training.’
It had been a biased contract written by the most exalted Main God of the Divine Realm, promising later compensation to the Main Divine Realm. If the war hero who had single-handedly defeated a Substitute God Main God reported this to the Creator God, they too would be in danger. That was why they had first wielded the Creator God’s name and the Main Divine Realm’s authority so aggressively. Handing over a realm in the middle of a rebellion naturally provoked such a sharp reaction.
“Bring me a contract that suits me.”
“Here it is. Write any requirements you wish.”
The Upper Main God completely abandoned the compensation he was supposed to receive from the most exalted Main God of the Divine Realm and sent a fresh blank contract with nothing written on it.
‘Thinking of the effort that went into drafting the previous contract, I want to punish him immediately, but I lack the power. How frustrating.’
According to the Main Divine Realm’s assessment, his ability ranked at the creator god level—the highest among highest main gods. The results of his mercenary activities in the highest demon star realm were especially staggering.
‘Since he has the greatest chance of becoming a Creator God through his own power, I must get on his good side.’
Above all, resentment toward the swindler Main God of the Divine Realm—who had failed to inform them of his realm’s true state—only grew.
‘Forcing a mandatory delegation in the middle of a rebellion like this would truly make us eternal enemies with the Dimensional and War God. The promissory note promising payment only after he becomes a Creator God is far too meager a price.’
If he insisted on the first contract now, he would instantly become the enemy of that terrifying Intermediate Main God of Dimensions and face threats to his own divine realm.
‘I’ve been completely deceived again.’